VOA慢速英语2016 南非歌剧演唱家走向欧洲

AS IT IS 2016-10-10 South African Opera Singer Makes Her Voice Heard 南非歌剧演唱家走向欧洲

When she was a girl, Zandile Mzazi loved to sing. She tried to sing along with stars like Whitney Houston. She did not know her love of singing was the first step towards an opera career.

Zandile Mzazi还是个孩子时就喜欢唱歌。她还试着模仿惠特尼休斯顿等明星。那时她并不知道，她对音乐的喜爱，是她迈向歌剧生涯的第一步。

Mzazi had a good voice from a very young age.She says she was a “skinny little girl”when she won the lead role in a school musical.

Mzazi小时候就有一把好嗓子。她说她在学校音乐剧担当主演时，还是个“瘦弱的小女孩”。

But she was showing off her strong voice even on the day she was born.

她一直都在展示她嘹亮的嗓音，即便是在出生的第一天。

“My mom said when I was born, the first day I cried so much!She said, ‘My gosh! Those lungs!The nurses from the entire floor of the hospital,they came because they thought maybe we were slaughtering 2 this child, you know!’”

“我妈妈说我出生的第一天，一直在大哭。她说，‘我的天啊！感觉肺都要哭出来了！医院里整层的护士都跑来了，她们还以为我们在虐待婴儿。’”

Mzazi got her professional start singing religious music called oratorio 3.The music is like opera, but the music has religious themes.Handel’s "Messiah" is a well-known example of oratorio.

Mzazi的职业生涯开始于演唱宗教音乐，即宗教剧。该音乐类似于歌剧，但是含有宗教主题。Handel的《弥赛亚》就是有名的宗教剧。

She first heard that kind of music from her aunt.And just like when she listened to pop music, she could sing along with Handel’s composition.

她是从阿姨那里首次听到这类音乐。她听流行音乐时，忍不住唱Handel的作词。

“And I could sing the ‘Messiah,’ jeepers; from the age of nine!I listened to opera recordings 4, and I imitated the sound that I was hearing.Little did I know that actually I had something very special.”

“我九岁时就会唱弥赛亚，天呀！我听歌剧的录音，模仿听到的声音。那时太小，我还没意识到这件事很特别。”

As a teenager, she heard a South African opera singer on television.She started to sing along.That is how she discovered opera.One thing she likes about opera, she said, is its “sadness and drama.”

少年时，她在电视上看到南非歌剧演唱家的演出。她开始跟着唱。就这样她认识了歌剧。她说她喜欢歌剧的原因之一，是因为它的“悲伤和戏剧性”。

Mzazi also said opera music is right for her talent.She said she does not think she has a big voice, but her tone 5 is a good fit for opera.

Mzazi说戏剧音乐太适合她的天赋了。她说她觉得她的嗓音不浑厚，但非常适合歌剧。

“Whenever I perform and I hear my sound ... it shocks me, because it is really incredible 6 that I am so blessed with this instrument.”

“无论何时我表演时，听到自己的声音，都会感到震惊，因为难以相信，我被赐予这样的天赋。”

The instrument of her voice carried Mzazi from local shows to a performance in front of Nelson Mandela.She also sang for the president of China – in Mandarin 7.

她的声音天赋带她从当地的表演，走向更大的舞台，在纳尔逊.曼德拉面前表演。她还曾用普通话为中国领导人演唱。

Last July, she went to Europe for a voice competition.Mzazi came in first out of 80 singers from around the world.

去年7月，她赴欧参加歌唱比赛。在全世界80名歌手中脱颖而出，摘得桂冠。

Now Mzazi is planning to go to Europe to continue her career.But she still calls South Africa home.

如今Mzazi计划去往欧洲继续她的职业生涯。但她仍然认为南非才是她的家。

Words in This Story

slaughter 1 –v. to kill in a very violent way

jeepers –int. used to express surprise

imitate –v. to do the same thing as (someone)

drama –n. a play, movie, television show, or radio show that is about a serious subject and is not meant to make the audience laugh

tone –n. the quality of a person's voice

bless –v. to provide (a person, place, etc.) with something good or desirable